The Al Smith Dinner
by ilovenascar
Summary: An AU look at what goes on behind and after the scenes of The Al Smith Dinner. Some M rated material only in TerryRyan section. WillKate, HelenMatt.
1. BackgroundExplanation

This is a story Brandy and I wrote after The Al Smith Dinner (10/29/05). It is our version of what happened after and behind the scenes. Please read and reveiw.

* * *

Helen/Matt

Alice looks like Amber Smith.  
David looks like Ben Browder.

Alice Reynolds was born and raised in Austin, attended UT Austin with Helen Santos and has a background in public relations. Helen requested her to join the campaign and she travels with Helen on the trail. She is four months pregnant with her first child with David.

David Lathram is from Tellico Plains Tennessee and is a friend of Matt's from his unit in the Marines. He's still on active duty and is based out of Yuma Arizona. He is Peter & Miranda's godfather and has been dating Alice for several years.

* * *

Josh/Donna

Upon Josh's announcement that he was hiring personnel and looking for experienced, savvy staffers, Matt remembered 'A Good Day' and hired Donna as Josh's deputy.

* * *

Ryan/Terry

Ryan looks like Elizabeth Hurley.  
Terry looks like Nathan Fillion.

Ryan and Terry were both born in New York and attended NYU together. Ryan is a published author of a non-fictional best seller who lives in Washington. Terry is a speech writer who lives in New York.

* * *

Kate/Will

Kate and Will have been together since 'Drought Conditions' and have been living together since he came home from the DNC.


	2. HelenMatt

The television was on in Matt's hotel room when another ad, a different kind of ad, ran across the screen. Matt looked up from his papers, grabbing the phone, and calling Josh. "Turn on your TV." 

Josh appeared in the doorway in an instant, shutting the door behind him. "How do you not tell me this?"

"I didn't tell anyone." He rubbed his face. "I need to call my wife." Josh nodded, leaving the room, still angry, but going to pull Helen's medical records, something he realized he should have done before.

* * *

"Mrs. Reynolds," a staffer called, looking at the television.

"Yeah! I see it," Alice said, going to find Helen.

Ronna, angry at Josh, had switched over to Helen's campaign when they'd parted and was standing outside Helen's door. "She's locked herself in."

"I know. I'll handle this." She smiled and knocked on the door. "Helen, let me in." Helen waited, but eventually let her in, her eyes red. Alice shut the door, locking it back. "Has Matt called yet?" She shook her head, going to lay back down, curling into a ball. Alice sat on the bed and rubbed her back. "He's gonna call and we're gonna have to deal with this."

"I already dealt with this." She wasn't sure she could do it again. Last time she'd had Matt.

"I know. I know."

Helen's cell phone rang next to them on the bed. She finally looked at the caller ID and took the call. "Helen, honey...God, I don't know what to say." Matt was speechless and felt like he was going through this all over again with her, except them being states apart. "I love you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't..." She wasn't one on crying, but was close to tears.

"No, shh. Nothing is your fault. I'm coming out there, all right? I'm coming out there." She didn't argue with him, just held the phone in her hand. "I am so sorry I'm putting you through this again. I never meant for this..."

Alice picked up the phone. "Matt?"

"Alice, is she okay?"

"Not really, no. I'll stay with her until you get here." There was no doubt in her mind that he would come.

"I don't know how I can thank you," Matt said, his voice starting to waiver.

"Don't worry about it." She'd been there for all three miscarriages and when the kids were born; she knew better than anyone except Matt and Helen themselves what her friends were going through.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Both hung up.

Leo had silently let himself in as Matt hung up the phone. "How is she?"

"Feeling like she's going through it again. I have to get to her." He looked up at Leo.

He nodded. "I was about to tell you that. Josh and I can hold down the base here, postpone events or I can take some of them. You need to address the issue, but that comes later."

"I know, but right now all I'm doing is going to be with my wife. And you need to tell Josh that coming in and asking me how I could have not told him is not the best thing to say right now. And yes, I do get it, Leo."

Leo thought about Lillianfiled. "I'll tell him."

* * *

_February 13, 1999_

_"Here comes the other one!" The doctor's excitement seemed a strange contrast to how weak and tired Helen was. The pain was intense and she grabbed Matt's hand as their daughter arrived._

_"It's a girl! It's a baby girl!" He cried in excitement and turned to his wife. "Helen? Helen?"_

_Blood was everywhere and Helen's eyes closed, unable to grasp or even hold his hand. "Outside, sir. You need to wait outside." One of the nurses tried to escort Matt outside as the other nurses and doctor tried to stabilize her._

_"Helen! What's happening with my wife! Let go of me!" He struggled to get free and tried to get back to Helen. One of the nurses carried the babies to the nursery. "What's happening?"_

_"She's hemmoraging, sir. You cannot be in here." Matt let himself be pushed out of the room, watching in horror and disbelief as the door closed. He walked to the nursery and watched his son and daughter, wondering if they would ever get to see their mother._

_David and Alice had follwed the nurse, keeping an eye on the babies. David had six months leave and had gotten to be home for his own daughter's birthday as well as his godchildren's. He turned and saw the look on his friend's face. "What? What happened?"_

_"She's hemmoraging. They're taking her to surgery."_

_He instantly put a protective arm around Alice, standing between her and his friend. He knew how frightened Matt had been after the three miscarriages, although he'd never mentioned it to Helen or Alice._

_"Mr. Santos?"_

_"Yes?" Matt turned to the voice that had called his name._

_"Your wife is still bleeding severely. Nothing we've tried will work. There's only one other option but we need your permission."_

_"What?"_

_"A hysterectomy. We would remove her uterus. Her tubes and ovaries would remain, but she couldn't have more children and there are some complications. We wouldn't bring this to you if there were other options, but we already had to start her on a transfusion."_

_"Do I have to sign anything?" He handed Matt the clipboard with papers. Matt's hand shook as he took the pen. He read over the papers, signing them and handing them back._

* * *

Present Day

"Matt," Alice whispered, bracing herself against the bed to get up, trying not to wake Helen.

He walked over, hugging her. "Thanks for staying with her."

"I'll be in my room if she needs me." She left, giving them privacy.

Matt sat down on the bed, stroking his wife's hair gently back. She turned to him, putting an arm around him. He lay down with her, holding on to her. "I'm sorry." He kissed her neck.

She lay her head on his chest. "You didn't know." She'd been waiting for it since the DNC, before that, since Matt had run for his first term of Congress.

"I should've. It's no holes barred. I should've thought of it."

"Mom called."

"Yeah."

"The kids don't understand. I told her we'd deal with it later. And the boys all want to hunt down the reporter." She always grouped his brothers in with hers as 'the boys'.

He smiled slightly. "Yeah, they wanna protect their sister."

"Yeah, well, where are they at Christmas when Dad's being a pain in the ass?" He kissed her forehead. "I don't know what you should do. The phrase 'none of your business' seems to work so well."

"I know." He rubbed her back in circles, like he had when she'd finally let him hold her again after the miscarriages.

"On the other hand, who better to argue for the limits of partial-birth? I mean, we had a choice and I made it. I don't regret it for anything."

"I know. I know you don't."

She changed the subject. "The bishop really banned you from his Church?"

"Refused me communion."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, all Democrats can't be Jed Bartlet." She kissed his cheek. "There's plenty of other Churches we can go to. It's not like you got excommunicated."

He nodded. "I'll get us through this."

"Give 'em the pictures of the bed again; maybe they'll forget?"

"I don't think so. It's worth a try."

She smiled slightly. "Ronna's still mad, mostly at Josh."

"Yeah."

"Some at you."

"I know, but we had to do something..."

"Yeah, but it's Ned. He's been here forever. Besides, if it wasn't for him, Josh would have found out why you really skipped those years on your reserve training."

"Yeah, I know."

"Can we have a shared experience? It doesn't have to be a movie. Just something."

"Yeah. I'll talk to Josh and Leo about it."

"No, right now." She didn't want to talk, didn't want to think, about the miscarriages anymore; she had for two months already. "I want to do something, anything, together, to get my mind off the fact that I lost three children, something I've been thinking about since the DNC and my best friend announcing she was pregnant."

"We could watch your all time favorite movie. A walk, you name it."

"Not a walk. I don't wanna go out."

"Movie then?"

"And I can get loud?"

"As loud as you want." She smiled, setting the movie up and watching it curled in his arms. He held her tight, rubbing her back, stroking and kissing into her hair, resting his cheek against her head.


	3. DonnaJosh, LeoAnnabeth

Josh came into his office, not bothering to turn on the light, talking on his cell phone, unaware that anyone else was there until he turned on his lamp. "God, Donna! You startled me." 

"Sorry."

"Matt's not here. I'm trying to get Helen's medical records and then Joey's gonna put a poll in the field; see how bad we got hurt."

"What do you want me to do?"

He could think of several things that would be suitable. "You're the expert. You tell me."

"Put someone on air. Fight back."

"With what? We don't even know if it's true or not." He hung up, satisfied with getting a record faxed to him. "There actually is something we need to discuss."

"What?"

"Shut the door." She got up and shut the door, folding her arms in front of her. "I'm proud of you."

"Josh..."

"That being said, I am still furious with you. If Matt feels he needs you, if he can trust you, that's fine, you stay."

She nodded. "I didn't want to take the job. I told him no but he hired me anyway."

"If I were him, I woulda made you sign something to say you'd be here until the end of the campaign or at least the next day."

"If you're worried about me jumping ship, don't. I only left as a last resort. And if we're finished here, I'm gonna see if I can get something to fight back with."

"We're not finished here. Two more things. I don't trust you. Maybe I will someday but it will be a very long time before it happens. And this crap about I never gave you a chance is ridiculous. You had more opportunities than Margaret, than Carol, than Cathy or Bonnie or any other assistant you want to name."

"Fine. Anything else?"

"Yeah. As angry as I am, we have to work together. I'm calling a truce, at least at the office." She nodded, opening the door and leaving.

"Mr. McGarry wants you," one of the assistants said.

Josh went to Leo's office. "Helen's medical records are on their way in."

"Close the doors." He closed them. "What was the first thing you asked the congressman?"

"C'mon, Leo, I just got out of a major ice storm with Donna and I need to call Joey. I asked him how he didn't tell me."

"Maybe because it was personal, Josh. Maybe just maybe he wanted to protect his family from something horrible and not for once did he think it would come back to bite him in the ass. You remember Claypool?"

"Yeah." It was their second year in office; Sam was still there and Donna had been Donna.

"I know what he's going through, Josh. You said the exact same words to me when the pills and alcohol came out because of Lillianfield."

"I did not. I looked at you and I said we'd get through this and we did, barely." He remembered Mallory getting harassed on the streets, remembered wanting to punch Claypool...he would have if Sam hadn't been there. He remembered the look on Margaret's face when she realized what Leo would go through. "I'll apologize when he gets back." He looked at his friend. "May I go now? I've got another apology to make."

"Don't ever do that again, Josh. He already lived through that hell once and now they're forcing him to do it again." He nodded. "Yeah, get outta here." He went back to his office, grabbed a frame off his desk, a badge, and went to Donna's office next door.

She looked up at the sound of footsteps. Her eyes were red. "What do you want?"

"This is yours. You left it when...you left it." He handed her the 'Bartlet for America' badge. "And I'm not sure if you'd want this or not, but I have another copy." He handed her the picture of the senior staff: C.J., Toby, Sam, him, and Donna.

She nodded, taking both objects. "I cried for a week after I left. Not that you'd care or anything."

"I carried that badge around in my shirt pockets until today."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I'm sorry I'm such an ass. Can we just agree to disagree? I mean, there's a lot of stupid stuff we both did; we can't expect it to be all better in a day, right?" She nodded, wiping her eyes. "Don't launch the attack. You should go home. I'm going to call Joey and look over some personnel files anyway."

"Why?"

"The congressman doesn't like negative attack ads. And Helen's records are none of our business. Tomorrow, if things haven't died down, we'll decide what to do together, with Leo and, if he's back, the congressman."

She nodded. "You have a bottle of aspirin in your office if you need it." She gathered her things and left for the day. He smiled, going back to his office.

* * *

Annabeth stood in Leo's office, takeout in hand, just watching. "Leo?" She finally asked quietly.

"Oh, hey, I didn't see you there. Come in."

She put his food on his desk. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"How is the congressman?"

"Not so good." She sat down, not knowing what to say or to ask, knowing that he wasn't okay. "I'm sure you heard about the scandal I created for the president a few years ago."

"Sierra Tuscon." Even if she hadn't heard, the first few weeks had been full of reminders.

"Yeah. It just feels like the same thing, all over again."

"Are you okay? Do you want to talk? Do I need to call someone? Mallory or Margaret?" She asked, instantly worried.

"No. No."

"Okay."

"You sound just like Margaret."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She knew how fond he was of the other woman, considered her family not just an assistant. They smiled at each other.


	4. TerryRyan

Ryan Wilson smiled, letting Terry Adelie come in, hugging him, kissing his cheek. "Hey. You okay?" 

"I'm great. How are you?" He walked over to the couch, taking her with him.

"I'm good." She sat down beside him. "How's your mom?"

"Great. She wants you to come up to New York sometime soon. She misses you."

"That might be a little hard to do until November, but I'll call her."

"She'd like that just as much. How's the book doing?"

"Great. I finally finished the tour, just in time, and my editor says it's still flying off the shelves."

"Wonderful, I'm really happy for you." He pulled out a copy from behind his back. "I wondered if I could have it signed by the author."

She smiled, shaking her head, but signing it for him. "When are you going to tell me what the surprise is?"

"I like to make you sweat. You know that." He joked.

She laughed. "Yeah, I've kinda figured that out."

"I went for an interview with the Santos Campaign today. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that?"

"Hey, if there's a chance to get you in Washington..." She teased. "Besides, you'll be great at it and I'd love working with you again."

"You said yes?"

"Yeah. What'd you say?"

"Yes." She grinned. "Well, I guess we're set then."

"So where are you staying tonight? You're not flying back, are you?"

"No, I thought I'd stay the week. And I don't know where I'm staying. I hadn't gotten the chance to check into a hotel."

"You could stay here. We could order pizza and beer...be just like in college."

"I'd like that."

She smiled. "The beer's in the fridge. I'll order pizza. Same as always."

"Yeah."

* * *

She kissed him, moving close to him. He put his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer. She moved until she was on his lap, increasing the kiss more and more with each movement. He started lifting her shirt over her head and removing her bra, his hand going to cup and squeeze her left breast. She moved her hands to unbutton his shirt, kissing his neck as her hand ran inside. His head fell to the back of the couch and she removed his shirt, kissing down his skin.

"Ryan."

She backed up, looking at him, her legs still around his waist. He got up and carried her to the bedroom, laid her down on the bed, and rid her of the rest of her clothing. He began to ravage her body like he'd done so many times before, carefully, methodically, planning what he would do next that would send her into orgasmic bliss. Her head went back to her pillow, her body arching up to him, moaning. She removed his belt, slipping her hand inside his jeans. He groaned loudly, bucking into her hand. She smiled, proud of the reaction she could create, removing the rest of his clothing, putting her hand back on his erection, kissing his other pulse points. He buried his head in her neck, groaning as she made him melt in her hand. She moved against him, kissing his skin, watching and feeling him grow harder. She let him come in her hand and then moved down, starting all over again until he came in her mouth as well, kissing back up his body.


	5. KateWill

Kate watched from the doorway, barely hiding her smile, waiting until he got off the phone. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine." He rubbed his head.

She closed the door and gently kissed his head. "You through? Cause we should really leave if you are."

"Yeah." He got up, leaving with her.

She let them into the house she was renting where the table was set up with baby back ribs, baby corn, baby lettuce salad, and two slices of Baby Ruth cake. An small present was sitting near his plate. "What's all this?" He looked at her, astonished.

"A theme. A celebration...I hope." He looked at her, still puzzled until he opened the present. A small framed black and white photo and a rattle were inside the box.

He smiled. "Baby?"

"Nine weeks. I'm thinking the morning you got home from the DNC."

He walked over to her and kissed her. "He's beautiful."

"She is, isn't she?" She smiled.

"Oh, now we're fighting over sex? Come on, he's obviously gonna have my good looks."

"You just got through fighting with the press corps. You wanna rethink that statement?" She teased, smiling. He kissed her, pulling her to him, and she kissed him back, holding him.

He let her go. "I knew you looked different, but in such a beautiful way."

"Much better," she said, smiling.

"Thank you, ma'am." It was such a relief to be talking about something besides the leak, to know why she'd been so sick lately, and she couldn't wait to be a mom. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine. Actually, since I found out what it was, I'm not as sick anymore."

"Good. I was getting scared there for awhile."

"Yeah, doesn't look good to be running out of the Sit Room every five seconds." She tried to make a joke about it, but she'd been frightened herself. He stroked her back. She kissed his cheek and then his neck, holding him.

"You must be worn out."

"I am."

"Early to bed, early to rise, isn't that what they say?"

"You should eat." He walked her over to her chair, pulling it out, and pushing it back in when she sat down. She ate some ribs and her piece of cake, drinking Sprite. He sat down eating as well, never taking his eyes off her. "What?"

"I didn't say anything."

"I know."

"For some reason I never thought I'd have children and now I'm gonna have a baby."

"I thought I'd put it off too long." She was only thirty-six, but with all she'd lived through it had just seemed like she'd waited too long.

"You look wonderful. Your back hurting?"

"It has been. It's not right now. What about your head?"

"It's fine. I've got a thick skull."

She tried to hide her amusement. "I'm glad you're okay."

"You can laugh, you know. Not like I haven't had people do it to me before."

"I'm not laughing at you, honey."

"Thanks." He finished eating, doing the dishes himself.

"Thank you," she said when he finished the dishes, kissing his neck, her arms around him. He held her, his face buried in her neck. "You wanna go lay down?"

"Yeah." She took a warm bath and changed for bed, laying down on the cool clean sheets. He lay beside her, wrapping her in his arms.

"I love you."

"I love you." She smiled, laying her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest.


End file.
